The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE second Grand Bahama Technology Summit is slated for November 14-16 in Freeport when worldwide technology giant Cisco Systems will return as one of the key partners of the event.

At a press conference at the Pelican Bay Resort on Wednesday, Minister of State for Grand Bahama Senator Kwasi Thompson announced the theme for the three-day tech summit is "The Future is Now," and noted the summit will feature several "high quality" speakers from the technology industry.

Carlos Rodriguez, business and development executive at Cisco, said the tech company is seeking to sign a memorandum of understanding with the government at this year's summit to advance the training of thousands of Bahamians.

The Cisco executive said the company is interested in introducing a programme called the Cisco Work Academy not just in Grand Bahama, but throughout the country.

Mr Thompson stated the government is committed to making technology the third pillar of the economy, and that the summit will help to drive technology investment and investors, not just to Grand Bahama but elsewhere.

"It is our vision to establish and grow the tech industry in the Bahamas to be a key contributor to our economy similar to tourism and financial services," Mr Thompson said.

"We believe GB is uniquely suited to become the internationally recognised science technology and innovation hub, and as such set out to establish Grand Bahama as 'Silicon Island'."

Mr Rodriguez noted while it is very important in this world of hyper-connected economies to develop a country based on technology, he warned that without the proper education, it is impossible.

He explained that Cisco Working Academy programme is an initiative to train individual professionals in different areas of technology. The programme is well known in the world, he said.

Mr Rodriguez said the programme was started 15 years ago by Cisco which now has close to 12,000 academies in 180 countries. "We are proud to say that we have academies across the globe," he said. "So far, we have achieved a big milestone of close to nine million students that are already graduates of the programme."

In the Bahamas, Cisco has only one institution, said Mr Rodriguez.

He noted the programme was adopted by the Bahamas Technology and Vocational Institute (BTVI) where some 450 participants are now presently enrolled in the different disciplines.

"The intention in the next coming year is to take that programme to 100 in the islands with the aspiration to get students finishing the programme in the neighbourhood of 10,000. So we are going from 400 students to 10,000; and we are going from one institution to 100, and for that portion we are waiting on the Ministry of Education and the government," he explained.

"We are willing to provide all the content and we are willing to train the trainers of all these academies," he said.

Mr Rodriguez said that signing the MoU with government is on their agenda at this year's summit. He also noted that as part of the summit they will provide two workshops, one of which will be on software development.

At the summit, Mr Thompson said that participants will hear about cutting edge technology from noted speakers, including John Padgett, chief experience and innovation officer at Carnival Corporation, which is the operator of cruise lines such as Princess Cruises Lines, Holland America Seaboard and more.

Mr Padgett, he said, is known for the development of Disney's My Magic technology, and the Ocean Medallion, the first of a kind wearable device that provides interactive guest experience.

Mr Padgett has 31 patent registrations and 92 trademarks to his credit, and was one of the designers of Disney's Fast Pass, Mr Thompson said.

Mr Thompson stated that various certification and workshops will be available for participants.